I am considering purchasing the Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 III as a replacement for my Canon G3 and I am concerned that the lack of an IR remote will be a deal breaker for me. The literature I can find for the RX100 says that the shutter can be controlled remotely via Smart Remote Control (meaning you're supposed to be able to do it with your smart phone).

For the typical person, this sounds fine. However, I don't have a smart phone. Even if I did, I'm not interested in lugging it around with me when I go out to take pictures (smart phones are practically as big as the camera! I may as well get one instead of the camera!). The thing I like about the G3's remote is that it is small enough that I can hide it in my hands while I am taking photos of myself when I am modeling my sewing projects.

4 Answers
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You could probably use a radio shutter remote that has a connector which matches the one for a (wired) cable release for the RX-100III. I believe it's the same one that the Sony A7 uses. Unlike an IR remote, you'll have two units: a receiver that you hook into the camera's shutter release port with a small cable, and then a small transmitter you'll have in your hand. This will typically be more reliable than an IR remote--range will be better especially in bright sunlight, and line-of-sight requirements are relaxed.

Most of these, however, will be aftermarket and probably cheap, so getting good reliable units might be a bit of gamble.

I think I googled up about four of them and noticed that the A7 would also be mentioned in the "compatible model" list. It may be that RX-100 users are less likely to require a shutter release, while A7 users are more likely to think of the full bells'n'whistles stuff dSLR users are used to. Or it could be there are multiple shutter release cables. Double-checking the connector on the cable might be good.
– inkistaAug 30 '14 at 21:07

You asked about IR shutter releases for the RX100M3, but the Use Case you provided suggests another solution: Buy/download the ~$10 Time-lapse photo app that is available for the RX100M3. You can choose to save the still images it creates as a series of photos instead of a movie. Set the app to take photos at a rate that works for you and then, later, delete the photos you don't want.